Kemi Badenoch might have reached an agreement with James Cleverly about his new role in the shadow cabinet, but it appears the pair remain at odds over the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). On Tuesday afternoon, the Westminster rumour mill ramped up as speculation that Cleverly – a onetime Tory leadership contender – was to make a return to Badenoch’s frontbench abounded. In due he course, the announcement came that Cleverly had become the new Conservative housing secretary and, as such, Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner’s opposite number.
During last year’s Tory leadership race, both Badenoch and Cleverly had opposed leaving the ECHR. However in recent weeks Badenoch’s stance has shifted somewhat, with the Conservative party leader stating last month that she is ‘increasingly of the view that we will need to leave’. Yet when pressed multiple times on the matter this morning while he was across the airwaves for the morning round, Cleverly would not support his party leader’s position. The ex-Foreign Secretary did say, however, that if leaving the ECHR does become Tory party policy, he ‘will abide by that’. He went on, telling the Beeb’s Radio 4 Today programme that:
Well, she has commissioned a review by the shadow attorney general and it is right that we look at this. It was incredibly frustrating when I was trying to deport people and we had judges making what I regarded as completely perverse decisions, leaning on the European court and so it is absolutely right that we look at that. I am going to wait for the outcome of that review.
Hardly a full-throated endorsement, eh?
Indeed, Cleverly’s response raises questions about what exactly the party stance is on the subject – and whether it will officially change any time soon. The issue has already created a clear dividing line between Nigel Farage’s Reform UK and Sir Keir Starmer’s Labour lot – with Farage’s crowd wanting out, while Starmer’s army in favour of remaining. Sound familiar, anyone…?
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